Talia rolled off the bed, crossing to the window and looking out. Cold air seeped through the glass, a rim of ice forming at the bottom of the pane. With no breath to fog the window, Talia was able to lean in, her vision unobstructed.
Snow was falling at a brisk pace. That was going to add an interesting wrinkle to her escape. Before long, the roads would be clogged. She had to get moving.
She didn’t want to ever see the place where she’d found her cousin’s body again, but there was no way around it. She would just have to figure out how to get past the cops. She wasn’t going anywhere without her weapons, cash, and decent boots. The dainty ankle boots she had on would be useless in this much snow.
And if the dog got in her way, she’d send him to obedience school. No one caught Talia Rostova twice.
Chapter 9
Tuesday, December 28, 11:55 p.m.
Downtown Fairview
Darak had followed the evil to the fire, but there wasn’t a lot to see once he got there. Bystanders, police, a city pound’s worth of hellhounds were all doing what needed to be done—but none of that interested him.
The fire itself was okay, but he’d seen better sorcery. This one was a little heavy on the whole melting-walls thing. Showy and dramatic, but a lot of energy wasted to get a simple job done.
What got his attention was what the spell slinger had targeted. Campaign office—well, why not hit the most controversial location in town? But a medical clinic—that made Darak mad. It was always the ordinary folk who got it in the neck when the powerful began throwing their weight around.
He paced the sidewalk beyond the perimeter set by the fire brigade. Smuts fell from the sky with the snow, looking as if the flakes themselves were burning. One fell on his cuff and he flicked it away, feeling a hot kiss of embers.
There was no trace of the spell caster here. The sense of evil was dying from the scene along with the flames, burning down into a gray ash of wilted magic. By morning, it would be no more than a shiver up the spine.
That didn’t do him a bit of good. Frustrated, Darak turned and stalked back along the sidewalk again. There should have been more. He wasn’t a magic user, but he knew something about it. A sorcerer didn’t just pull this kind of energy out of his ass. It had to come from somewhere: a sacred object, a ley line, or maybe a sacrifice.
There was nothing here. Whoever had cast the spell had raised the energy someplace else and redirected it. Darak glared back at the fire and its halo of snow and ash.
It was then he saw the woman. She was standing a few feet away, wearing nothing but a blouse and navy blue skirt. Her brown hair was neatly cut at shoulder length. She was shivering, clutching her arms because she had no coat.
Oh, no. He had a bad feeling, but he walked over anyway.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She looked up at him, frowning the way some people did because they had to look up, and then up some more to find his face. “I’m not sure how I got here,” she said, her voice holding both fear and annoyance. “It’s snowing. It never snows here.”
Darak took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Here.”
Its size drowned her, but she looked grateful. Pausing to look around again, she seemed to notice the fire. “Is that the clinic?”
“Yeah. Too bad about that.” He was wearing a pullover, but the wind bit through the loose weave. The whole chivalry thing obviously came from warmer climates.
“I hope the nurses don’t lose their jobs.” She looked confused. “You know, I think I need to go home.”
He’d been expecting it. “Want me to walk you?”
“Please. I’d like that.”
He offered her his arm. He was the last thing from a gentleman and most of the time was barely polite, but there was a time and a place to show respect. “Where do you live?”
She hesitated, searching the streets around them, then seemed to get her bearings. “Over this way.”
Dread settled into his bones. He wondered how far it was, and how much time he had to talk to her. This sort of thing never got easier, no matter how many centuries rolled past.
They set off in silence, taking shortcuts through an alley and a schoolyard. The chain-link fence around the playground sparkled with frost. Darak stayed close to her side, careful not to let her out of his sight for even a second.
“I just got home tonight,” the woman said.
He noticed she was pretty in a fresh, simple way. In other circumstances, she would have been pleasant to look at for hours on end.
“I was going to spend the night with my cousin,” she added.
“Yeah?”
“She’s like you.”
“Like me?”
“You know. A vampire.” She gave him a shy glance. “Sorry. I seem to be saying whatever pops into my head. I’m usually a better conversationalist than this.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He wasn’t much good at small talk at the best of times. “So your cousin’s a vampire?”
“I was kind of afraid, but if no one ever gave Talia a break.. . . ” She trailed off, then stopped, turning to Darak. With a pleading gesture, she put one hand on his chest. “You’ve got to make sure she’s okay.”
They always made a request. It usually came near the end, so they had to be close to where it had happened.
He looked around. There were a lot of nice buildings, a few houses. Where would a woman like this live? Of course. Cop cars, over there. It looked like the kind of street that should have been quiet, but tonight it was jammed with ominous flashing lights and men with uniforms.
She was still looking at him, her eyes dark with worry. She barely came up to his collar bone. It’s surprising how many ask to keep their loved ones safe.
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll check on her. Talia, right?” One vampire shouldn’t be hard to find.
“I’d really appreciate it.” She gave him a quick, uncertain smile. “My feet are so cold.”
That would be because she was barefoot, but he didn’t point it out. “Is that your building over there?”
“Y-yes. Wow, look at all the police. I wonder what’s going on. Think somebody had a break-in?”
“Why don’t we go in the back way?”
“Good idea.”
Gently, he guided her to the corner, and they crossed with the lights. Nice and easy.
As they went around to the parking lot, she started to become agitated, looking nervously around her. They were passing through the rows of cars, stepping over the concrete ribs that kept them in tidy lines. “Thank you for walking with me.”
“No problem. What’s your name?”
“Michelle.”
The back door was still a fair distance away, its light making a pool on the gathering snow. A single cop stood outside, looking bored.
She started violently, colliding with Darak in terror of something only she could see. His coat slid off her shoulders and fell into the snow. He caught her, wrapping his arm around her so that she was caged against his chest. He crouched down between a truck and an SUV, letting her sink safely to the ground. “Hey, take it easy. You’re not alone. I’m here.”
“What’s happening?” Trembling like a fever victim, her slight weight began to fade.
They weren’t going to make it through the door before her spirit fled the earth.
“Tell me what happened, Michelle.”